GIBSON — Sadie Lytch Odom sat prim and proper in a chair on the edge of a guest bedroom in her Gibson home Tuesday, dressed smartly in an outfit appropriate for the front pew of church. Her eyes sparkled. Voice vibrant and strong. Memory sharp as a tack. A lifelong confidence oozed.

It was her birthday — just a moment in time, but one that marked her 96 years.

Although there were surely plans to spend her special day with family and friends over a cake and ice cream, Odom first spent about an hour that morning gazing over a bed covered with accolades, awards and accomplishments — her voice laced with pride as she spoke about the highlights of a lifetime.

Odom was born in the Masons Cross Community of Scotland County on April 9, 1923, to Belton and Mamie Gibson Lytch. She was one of four children and, by all accounts, had a normal childhood growing up through such events as The Great Depression and impending world war.

On June 26,1940, just a month after graduating from Gibson High School, she married G.C. Odom Jr., who went to work for the railroad. The couple would celebrate 78 years of marriage before G.C. passed away last year.

Sadie soon went to work as clerk of the Gibson Post Office, where she spent two years before leaving to start a family. The couple had three children — G.C. Jr., now of Longs, South Carolina; Douglas, now of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Jean, now of Asheville. That’s also produced six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Sadie went back into the workforce in 1954, when she took a position with the local Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service as a typist in charge of recording farmers’ crop acreage allotments. It didn’t take long for her to realize there was a better way to do things, and she made the suggestion to her supervisor.

“He let me send my suggestion to Washington,” Sadie said. “Three weeks later, I was asked to come to Washington to receive a certificate for my suggestion to revise the form.”

That trip got canceled, but was rescheduled for Greensboro, where she received her certificate along with a $2,500 cash award.

“It’s hard to imagine what $2,500 was like in those days,” she said. “But I knew I felt rich.”

Sadie added that her suggestion was adopted by the ASCS and sent nationwide for other locations to use.

In 1967, Sadie’s career took a sharp turn. She received a call from the Gibson postmaster who said he would be retiring and asked if she would like to apply for the job. She did.

“I became the acting postmaster and served that way until 1965, when I was appointed as the permanent postmaster,” she said. “I loved that job, because I got to meet a lot of people and hear all the news each day.

“It was a rewarding and interesting job,” she added. “The post office was like a community center.”

She recalled one incident where a woman came in with her baby and wanted a money order. The woman said she left some papers in her car and asked Sadie if she’d hold her baby while she went to get the papers.

“I did … and the woman didn’t come back, didn’t come back and didn’t come back,” she said. “The baby started to cry and the police station was right across the street — I knew the police chief real well, so I got him and told him the story.”

Sadie said the chief found the woman with her boyfriend — the two had driven off into South Carolina — and took care of things.

“One of the things I still enjoy today is that so many little children who came into the post office all those years ago and enjoyed the candy I would give them, now are grown up with children and grandchildren — but still remember me,” Sadie said.

Sadie retired from that job in 1988, but before she did, the career path took yet another twist.

“I was urged to run for mayor of Gibson by my brother (B.P. Lytch, who served Scotland County as sheriff),” she said. “I had been seeing some things that needed to get done and wanted to help … but I had to get the OK from the US Postal Service, because they had a rule anyone working for them couldn’t hold a government position.”

The approval was OK’d, and Sadie won her election to become the county and town’s first female mayor in 1979. She went on to serve for 17 years, then served another five years on the town council.

“I never lost an election,” she said with pride.

Some of her proudest accomplishments as mayor include pushing for a low-income housing grant, a wastewater treatment plant grant that saved the town’s condemned sewer system, a grant to add space to the town hall for firefighters to use and a grant to remodel the Gibson Depot and create an Early Learning & Daycare Center.

“I think my commitment to the town and the help I received from the community really stands out for me,” she said. “I’ve also always had the fire department as a pet project.”

Sadie served 23 years with the Lumber River Council of Governments and eventually became the first female to serve as the organization’s chairperson.

She took a moment to consider her decades of public service, gazing over the bed filled with honors and memories — then summed up her thoughts succinctly.

“I’ve had so many good friendships over the years, and they all meant so much to me,” she said.

Though her working days are over, Sadie still looks forward to each and every day.

“I like to watch the Braves on TV, read the newspaper and visit with family and friends,” said Sadie, who for years contributed to The Laurinburg Exchange with The Gibson News column.

“I got my license renewed last year and the man told me I was good for another five years,” she added. “I told him I’d be 100 then — but I don’t drive anymore. The license is just for ID now.”

Sadie continues to be a member and active with Gibson United Methodist Church and still tries to get out and about when she can. And when she looks back over her 96 years, she said she has no regrets.

“Plus, Lord willing, there is more to do,” she said.

On Tuesday, that meant blowing out a 96th candle.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached at 910-506-3023 or [email protected].

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W. Curt Vincent

Staff writer